| |
At seventeen he attended his first camp meeting. “On the Saturday evening, I went with weeping multitudes and earnestly prayed for mercy. In the midst of a solemn struggle of soul, an impression was made on my mind, as though a voice said to me, ‘Your sins are all forgiven.’ Divine light flashed all around me, and unspeakable joy sprung up in my soul. I rose to my feet, opened my eyes, and it really seemed as if I was in heaven—the trees, the leaves on them, and everything seemed to be praising God. And though I have been in many instances unfaithful, yet I have never for one moment doubted that the Lord did forgive my sins and give me true religion.” (The Autobiography of Peter Cartwright)
Cartwright began preaching at the frontier camp meetings. He later described what a normal camp meeting looked like.
“They would erect a shed, sufficiently large to protect five thousand people from wind and rain, and cover it with boards or shingles. And here they would collect together from forty to fifty miles around, ten, twenty, and sometimes thirty ministers, of different denominations. They would preach night and day, four or five days together; and, indeed, I have known these camp meetings to last three or four weeks. I have seen more than a hundred sinners fall like dead men under one powerful sermon, and I will venture to assert that many happy thousands were awakened and converted to God at these camp-meetings.” (Quoted in, William McLoughlin, The American Evangelicals, p. 47)
Cartwright started his ministry in Kentucky and Tennessee, and then moved on to Illinois because of his hatred of slavery. In 1832, he ran for the State legislature of Illinois, defeating a lanky up and coming politician. Fourteen years later, this promising young politician defeated Cartwright in his bid for Congress. His name was Abraham Lincoln.
Cartwright became a powerful and bold preacher. He was fearless in confronting backwoods ruffians or people of influence. He once warned General Andrew Jackson that he would be damned to Hell just as quickly as any other man would if he did not repent. A timid preacher apologized to Jackson for Cartwright’s bluntness. The general retorted that Christ’s ministers ought to love everybody and fear no mortal man, adding that he wished he had a few thousand officers like Peter Cartwright.
|
|
